Wednesday Must Reads: Alameda County May Put Healthcare Measure on June Ballot; Ex-TV Anchor to Run for Oakland City Council

Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 10:12 AM

1. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors is pushing forward with a plan to put a sales tax measure for healthcare funding on the June ballot, the Bay Area News Group$ reports. The proposal would ask voters to reauthorize Measure A, a 2004 tax initiative that is scheduled to expire in 2019. The board wants the half-cent sales tax to go to the ballot in June to give the county enough time to ask for reauthorization in 2016 should it fail to pass this year. The board also wants to avoid competing with a tax to fund transportation scheduled for this November’s election.

Dana King.

2. Former television news anchor Dana King announced that she’s running for Oakland City Council this year to replace outgoing Councilmember Pat Kernighan, the Chron and Trib$ report. King moved to Oakland in 2012 and is now an artist in the San Antonio district. Peralta Community College Trustee Abel Guillen, who lost a close battle last year for state Assembly, is also mulling a bid to replace Kernighan.

3. Port of Oakland staffers are recommending that the board of directors reject maritime proposals for the Howard Terminal — a move that could open the door for a possible new ballpark for the A’s on the waterfront, the Trib$ reports. The port board is scheduled to vote on the recommendation next week.

4. Voter- and civil rights groups, including the League of Women Voters, sued California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, contending that she has illegally blocked nearly 60,000 residents who served sentences for nonviolent felonies from voting, the Chron reports.

5. And both houses of Congress have approved a new farm bill that slashes food stamp funds for low-income Americans while maintaining generous public subsidies for Big Agribusiness.